Still life stage and chooks

Dave made me a great still life stage last month!  The design is very similar to the one designed by Carole and David Marine, available here.  Dave had difficulty finding the furniture grade pvc that was suggested, and so used plumbing piping, but it was not as easy to work with, he had to modify it a bit.  I am just delighted! It is quite large and will fit large bouquet's or smaller items. At the moment i like it draped in white(I'm using old table cloths and pillowcases) but i will likely try other fabric draping options. It's opened up a whole new world of still life to me.  I never did much of it before, as i preferred landscapes, but it is a great option for subjects in the studio and i know i will enjoy the ease of setting up a still life and being able to control the light source(always a problem before when i would set a plant in the window and the light would change as i painted).

chooks - oil on wood - 4 x 4 inches each

I didn't use the stage for these 'chooks'. They are an experiment in pushing impasto effects. Impasto is a word for thicker paint.  I've been wanting to create thicker passages in my work, so I thought i'd give it a try here.